A 30-year-old former Wellsville police officer pleaded not guilty to a charge of animal cruelty Friday in Douglas County District Court.

Jacob D. Stus, formerly of Baldwin City but now living in Alaska, turned himself in to police on Wednesday after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of animal cruelty and interference with law enforcement. According to Baldwin City Police Chief Greg Neis, Stus is accused of beating and killing a feline that came onto his property on June 19.

He was a police officer at the time of the crime but resigned in August, according to Wellsville Police Chief S.W. Gillespie.

Stus is free on a $2,000 bond, and his next court appearance is Jan. 8.

Comments

Twenty-four hours later and we are missing the most essential part of this story. What was the situation involving this cat?

Was it a feral, rabid cat presenting a danger or a lovable family pet?

This one missing fact defines this news story as an absurd prosecution by nutty police officials and prosecutors to a matter of serious, anti-social animal hatred. A huge defining difference.

Mrs. Stus is a respected Alaska attorney. These are not stupid or uneducated people. Mr. Stus voluntarily returned to Lawrence to answer the charges (that he was unaware existed).

By failing to include all the important facts, Mr. Stus is portrayed to be some kind of animal hating torturer, whereas he may in fact just be protecting his property or family from a bad episode with a wild animal with police officials acting irresponsibly.

I don't know every fact, but with ALL the facts readers could judge whether Mr. Stus is a good or bad guy (without the pertinent facts he is assumed to be a villain and smeared by this newspaper).

How much of a threat, or a nuisance could a cat be. It certainly couldn't threaten life, or property and even if it was taking a dump, how much of a hassle can a little cat poo be? Shooing it off sounds like a good alternative since cats tend to be skittish anyway.